A/N: Hi my lovely readers! I just want to thank whoever has been reading and awaiting each chapter, oh so patiently. Since this is the 20th chapter, I wanted to show how grateful I am by writing this chapter as sweet and as cute as possible for the couple, Kibum and Ellie. Enjoy the wave of relief you will feel from this chapter after finding out that the CEO wasn't going to break them up in the previous chapter. If you've been enjoying this story up til' now, please don't be shy to comment and let me know how you're feeling or even let me know how your day has been! Also, share the story to your fellow 'shawols' and even if they aren't 'shawols', maybe after reading this story, they'll show a great, big, giant, interest in our shining SHINee and our community will grow and our forever love and support for them will be felt (more and more)! Love you my lovelies! ►►►          

            “This is our first date! Wuaaaaaah!” I exclaimed as I hopped inside his car.

            “Annyeong,” he said to me. “Le’ts goooooooooo!” he was as excited as I was.

            “What have you got planned today, Kibum-ssi?” I said formally.

            “Wow, why so formal So Ra-ssi?” he asked. He has been using the Korean name that Ji-Hye gave me since he found out about the name.             

            “Why wouldn’t I be formal? It’s only our first date, we’ve been friends before this, but I wanna reset and be polite since, this is basically a start of a new relationship, Kibum-ssi,” I drummed my fingers on my bag. I was nervous and excited at the same time, I wanted to jump with joy and pinch myself.

            “Wuah, have you been practicing your formal Korean? It improved,” he smiled and kept his eyes on the road.

            “Are you nervous about going out in public?” I asked.

            “Nope, ‘cause you’re beside me,” he said effortlessly. I squealed quietly and covered my face.

            “Omo omo, why are you being so girly today So Ra-ssi?” he hit my arm.

            “Yah! We’re on our first date, why did you hit me!” I shouted and pushed him.

            “I apologize, Ms. So Ra,” he bowed his head. I chuckled then realized what he was wearing.

            “Why are you wearing such nice clothes? You’re not even covered up, where’s your mask, your hat?” I panicked.

            “It’s okaaay, it’s our first day, of course I’m gonna dress up and look nice,” he started. “You look really nice today, why can’t I?” he added. I scoffed.

            “Was that a compliment?” I joked.

            “Shining SHINee’s Key has to look good beside his giiiiiirlfriend!” He yelled out, as he opened the driver’s seat window for the streets to hear.

            “Yah!” I covered his mouth.

            “Wae! SHINee’s Key has a girlfrieeeeeeeeeend!” He yelled out to the window again, but he was driving fast that his voice probably seemed like a blur to the onlookers.

            “Where are we? You’re not like…kidnapping me and abandoning me in a strange place, right?” my voice trembled just thinking about it.

            “Puahahaha! Wuah, So Ra-ssi! I’m not that kind of person!” he said taken aback.

            “Why have we been driving for over an hour?” I whined. I was not the type of person to be able to sit still for a long time and an hour felt like three hours.

            “Are you dizzy?” he looked at me. I nodded and looked at him mischievously.

            “Dizzy from how shiny you are,” I said and winked. This had me cringing seconds after.

            “Omo! Hahaha! Aigoo, our So Ra,” he said, still chuckling. He then switched lanes to exit the highway. I started reading the sign of where we were exiting to.

            “Wah!!! Daebak!” I jumped in my seat because of where we were. “Rest Area! Wah! Kibum-ssi, I apologize for what you’re about to see here,” he parked the car and I got off.

            “Why are you apologizing?” he said and we walked towards the entrance.

            “Oh… This is what you were apologizing for,” he said, shaking his head. “Okay, So Ra-ssi, point to anything you want to eat, I’ll buy it for you,” he smiled and patted my head.

            “Am I still attractive?” I said as I slurped the noodles in front of me.

            “Wah, when did I say you were attractive, how brazen you are to say that, So Ra-ssi,” he said putting his hand over his mouth. I hit his head.

            “Aish, just eat your food,” I rolled my eyes. “There aren’t really many people here today?” I wondered out loud. He nodded and fixed his mask.

            “It’s a day after Christmas and it’s a weekday,” he explained, as he chewed on tteokbokki.

            “Ahhhh,” was all I said. I was grateful that nobody recognized him and that there weren’t people taking pictures of us. “Should I buy stuff from the convenience store so we could eat in the car?” I said when we got up from out table.

            “Okay okay, call! I’m gonna go use the bathroom,” he said, carrying the food tray. We were about to separate ways, but I grabbed his arm.

            “Wait, how long are we still going to be on the road for?” I asked, trying to calculate how much food I was going to get.

            “Maybe two more hours? If there’s traffic,” he looked up, trying to think. “But there hasn’t really been traffic, so maybe an hour and a half?” he said. I nodded.

            “Okay, meet me there,” I said and walked away.

Inside the mart, I grabbed candies, chocolate, chips, and bottled drinks. I also got bread and a red headband with white polka dots because it was pretty.

            “Omo, why are you buying so much?” Kibum arrived at the mart. “I was only gone for two minutes and you got so much stuff already!” he said, bursting into laughter as I dropped the everything on the counter.

            “Yah, why are you laughing? I’ve always wanted to experience this! Just taking a road trip spontaneously and buying lots of stuff from the rest area,” I explained. “It’s okaaaaay, grab whatever you want, So Ra-ssi will pay,” I said and winked.

            “Mwo? Aniya, Kibum-ssi is paying, it’s our first date,” he waved his hand, trying to stop  me from taking out my wallet. I hissed and furrowed my brows.

            “No no no, move out of the way,” I said and bumped my hip to his to push him aside. Kibum stood aside knowing he was not going to win the argument. We watched the lady scan everything I bought and put them in a bag, with Key asking ‘why are you buying that’ after every item.

            “That’ll be 57,000 won,” the lady said and smiled. She didn’t even glance at Key which was good, we didn’t need to be recognized now. However, Kibum gasped so loud that the three other people in the mart looked at us.

            “Oh my God, Ellie-ah! How did you buy so much stuff?” he walked over beside me and looked at the stuff I bought. People around us were getting interested and the lady who scanned the items was trying to get a good look at Key. I quickly handed her the money and kept my palm over Kibum’s face and pushed him out the door.

            “Keep the change!” I yelled out and grabbed his hand so we could rush out of there. “Pabo-yah, we almost got caught,” I said when I let go of his hand and stopped running.

            “Oopsies!” he sang and opened the car door for me.

            “Oooooooh, how cool of you,” I said and got inside. He shut the passenger door and slid on the hood of the car like he was in an action movie then opened the driver’s seat door like nothing happened. I bursted in laughter. I laughed so hard that my jaw started to hurt.

            “Wae? Did something happen?” he tried to say with a deep voice, squinting at me as he started the car.

            “Aigoo, my stomach hurts, hahahahahahahaha,” I still couldn’t stop laughing. As we drove out of the rest area, Kibum the car stereo and connected his phone. I grabbed it from him so that he wouldn’t be driving while holding his phone. I could barely see the screen because the sun was shining too bright, so I tapped whatever song my finger could find. A song by Peter Han played, titled ‘Sing with the Swing’ and it was one of my favourite songs (A/N: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcOYFYPybko listen to it as you read my lovelies!)

            We drove along the highway with barely any cars on the road. I kept feeding him snacks, we laughed as we told each other stories, he made fun of my laugh, I made fun of his, I opened a bottle of water for him and watched him gulp it down like he was filming a commercial. He grabbed my left hand, stopping me from cleaning up the candy wrappers and bags of chips that we finished and he kissed the back of my hand then smiled at me, displaying his dimples. Not even a second after this, I knew I had turned red but I didn’t want to act so shy, so instead, I reciprocated. I quickly kissed the back of his hand, he laughed out of embarrassment, not being able to hide his red cheeks. Then we just sat there quietly, listening to the music, appreciating a moment free of worries.